What is Find Leads?

Find Leads is LeadRanks' prospecting engine. Instead of manually hunting for businesses that might need your services, you describe what you're looking for — an industry, a location, a specific problem — and LeadRanks finds websites with real SEO issues and surfaces them as qualified leads.

Each lead comes with a score, an issues summary, contact information (email, phone, LinkedIn), and AI insights that explain exactly why that business needs help and how to pitch them.

How to Run a New Prospects Search

Navigate to Find Leads from the main dashboard or top navigation bar.
Choose a strategy — this controls how LeadRanks builds its search. We'll cover each strategy in detail below.
Fill in the search form based on your chosen strategy. A keyword, industry, location, or competitor domain.
Click "Find Leads" and let the system do the work. You'll see a live progress banner while the search runs.

Example Searches

What you're looking for	Strategy	Input
Plumbers in Perth with bad websites	Industry	Industry: Plumber Location: Perth
Law firms missing basic SEO	Specific Issues	Issues: missing meta descriptions, no SSL Industry: Legal Services
Cafes near a known competitor	Competitor Gap	Keyword: cafe Location: Melbourne
Any business with broken links in Sydney	Specific Issues	Issues: broken links Location: Sydney

What to Expect During a Search

When you click "Find Leads", the search goes through several stages:

Discovering URLs — LeadRanks searches the web for business websites matching your criteria. You'll see "Searching N queries…" in the progress banner.
Processing in batches — Each URL is fetched and analyzed in batches of 3. The banner shows progress like "Batch X of Y · Scoring URL N of M…" so you can see exactly how far along the search is.
Scoring & analysis — Each business website is checked for SEO issues, contact information is extracted, and AI generates a pitch insight.
Results ready — Leads appear in the table as they're scored, sorted by score (highest first). You can start reviewing leads before the search is fully complete.

Timing: A typical search processes 30–50 URLs and takes 2–8 minutes depending on website response times. The progress banner keeps you informed throughout.

Reading Your Results

Each lead card shows:

Score (0–100): Higher = more urgent need for SEO help. Scores factor in the number and severity of issues found.
Issues Found: Specific SEO problems like missing meta tags, broken links, slow page speed, or missing HTTPS.
Contact Info: Email, phone, and LinkedIn when available.
AI Insights: A personalized analysis of why this business needs your services and a suggested angle for outreach.

Focus on high-score leads (≥6) first — these businesses have the most visible SEO problems and are most likely to need immediate help.

Search Strategies Explained

Industry Strategy

Best for finding businesses in a specific vertical. Enter an industry name (e.g., "Plumber", "Dentist", "Law Firm") and optionally a location. LeadRanks finds business websites in that industry and checks them for SEO issues.

Use when: You specialize in a particular industry and want to fill your pipeline with leads from that vertical.

Specific Issues Strategy

Find businesses with particular SEO problems you're good at fixing. Pick from a list of common issues (missing meta descriptions, broken links, no SSL, slow pages, missing H1 tags) and optionally filter by industry or location.

Use when: You offer a specialized service — e.g., you do SSL migration, or you're a page speed optimization expert. You'll find businesses that specifically need what you sell.

Location Strategy

Broaden your reach by targeting all businesses in a geographic area. Enter a city, region, or postcode and LeadRanks finds local business websites with SEO issues.

Use when: You're a local agency and want to prospect within your service area without limiting to a single industry.

Competitor Gap Strategy

Find businesses ranking for the same keywords as a competitor. Enter a keyword that describes a competitor's service, and LeadRanks finds other businesses in that space.

Use when: You know who your competition is targeting and want to find similar businesses that might need your services. Great for expanding into adjacent markets.

Custom Strategy

Maximum flexibility — combine a keyword, industry, and location however you need. The system builds search queries from whatever fields you provide.

Use when: The other strategies don't quite fit what you're looking for. Mix and match to narrow or broaden your search.

When a Search is "Exhausted"

Sometimes you'll see a message that a search is "exhausted — no more results available". This happens when:

You've already run the same criteria and all matching businesses have been found.
The search engine has returned every result it has for your query.
Your criteria is too narrow and no new websites match.

What to do:

Change your strategy. If you searched by "Industry: Plumber, Location: Perth", try Specific Issues with "Location: Perth" to find all Perth businesses with SEO problems regardless of industry.
Broaden your location. Instead of a single suburb, try a city or region.
Rotate keywords. Instead of "plumber", try "plumbing services", "pipe repair", or "drain cleaning". Different keywords surface different businesses.
Use Competitor Gap. Enter a competitor's domain keyword to discover businesses competing in the same space.

Avoid the Duplicate Results Trap

When you exhaust a search, resist the temptation to make tiny variations of the same keyword — "plumber Perth", "plumbers Perth", "perth plumber" will all return substantially the same businesses. Instead, change the strategy type or the kind of search entirely. A Specific Issues search for "broken links" will surface completely different businesses than an Industry search for "plumbers", even in the same city.

Long-Tail Keywords: A Warning

It's tempting to search with very specific long-tail phrases like "emergency 24-hour plumber in Northbridge Perth Western Australia". These searches will not return results — they're too narrow and the search engine needs a broad enough query to find matching websites.

Use short, broad keywords by default. Good: "plumber", "dentist", "cafe". Bad: "affordable family dentist open Saturdays in Brunswick".

Think in terms of business categories, not search-engine-optimized long-tail phrases. You're looking for websites, not ranking for keywords.

Managing Your Leads

Once your search is complete:

Sort by score to prioritize the most promising leads.
Generate email drafts with one click — personalized outreach based on the AI insights.
Export to CSV for your CRM or spreadsheet.
Push to Instantly (if connected) for automated email campaigns.
Assign to campaigns to track outreach across multiple searches.
Dismiss leads that aren't a good fit to keep your list clean.

Pro Tips

Start broad, then narrow. Run a broad search first (e.g., location only), then refine with specific issues or industries once you see what's out there.
Use different strategies for the same area. An Industry search for "plumbers in Perth" and a Specific Issues search for "broken links in Perth" will give you completely different lead lists — even though they target the same city.
Check back regularly. New businesses launch, old ones change their websites. A search that's exhausted today may have fresh results in a month.
Watch the score, not just the issues. A business with one critical issue (missing SSL) scores higher than a business with five minor issues (slightly slow page). Score helps you prioritize.
Personalize using AI insights. Don't just copy-paste email templates. Read the AI insight for each lead — it tells you why that specific business needs help, which makes your outreach far more effective.

How to Use Find Leads — A Complete Guide